Polish F-16 Crash Kills Display Pilot Major Maciej ‘Slab’ Krakowian; Radom Air Show Cancelled
Tragedy struck the skies of central Poland on Thursday evening when a Polish Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashed during a routine training flight. The aircraft went down at around 7:25 p.m. CET. The incident marks the first-ever crash of an F-16 in Poland.
The jet, belonging to the Polish Air Force’s F-16 Tiger Demo Team, had been preparing for the Radom International Air Show, scheduled for this weekend.
Footage circulating on social media shows the fighter attempting a barrel roll before plummeting to the ground. Miraculously, no bystanders were injured. The organisers have now cancelled the air show.
Poland, Aug 28, 19:25 local: a Polish Air Force F-16 from the Tiger Demo Team crashed during rehearsal at Radom Air Base.
The pilot, Maj. Maciej “SLAB” Krakowian, was killed. Clips show a descending pass at full power, no ejection, no injuries on the ground. The Radom Air Show… pic.twitter.com/APkdS1QIPu
— Collectivistica Messorem (@PRWarRoom) August 28, 2025
Pilot Major Maciej ‘Slab’ Krakowian
A statement from the General Command of the Polish Armed Forces, as reported by TVP World, confirmed the pilot’s identity.
“He was the leader of the display team and, earlier in August, was awarded the ‘As the Crow Flies’ Trophy by aviation enthusiasts for the ‘best overall flying demonstration’ at the 2025 Royal International Air Tattoo, the world’s largest military airshow.”
Major Krakowian was a highly experienced combat pilot with over 1,000 flight hours on the F-16. He has also been an instructor at the 31st Tactical Air Base near Poznań. “The accident involved an aircraft from that airbase,” the General Command added.
A graduate of both the Aviation Training Institute in Dęblin and the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Krakowian had studied in the U.S. for four years.
The F-16 Tiger Demo Team
The F-16 Tiger Demo Team is the official display team of the Polish Air Force. Part of the 6th Fighter Squadron (6 Eskadra Lotnicza), it is distinguished by its tiger emblem, reports Aviationist.
The team performs with F-16C Block 52+ jets, and uniquely in Europe, flies with conformal fuel tanks during the airshow season. Major Krakowian had been the team leader since 2023.
Poland’s Premier Aviation Event
The Radom Air Show, held biennially since 2000, is Poland’s largest aviation spectacle. Hosted in Radom on the last weekend of August, it attracts military aircraft from across Europe for aerial demonstrations and stunt flying.
This year’s cancellation has disappointed aviation enthusiasts across the nation.
A History of Airshow Tragedies
Radom Air Show has a very bad past. As of September 1, 2007, two Zlin Z-526 planes from the AZL Żelazny aerobatic team collided mid-air, killing both pilots. Two years later, a Belarusian Sukhoi Su-27UBM crashed during a display on 30 August 2009.
An investigation into the F-16 crash has been opened by Polish authorities; meanwhile, the loss of one of the finest pilots mourns the aviation community.
